Dream Weaver
by Lerya
Summary: A dreamweaver comes to Cardiff, and plays around with the minds of all of the Torchwood team, alongside many other Cardiff inhabitants. Also, she has a strange connection to one of the Torchwood team...
1. Chapter 1

Ok, This is my first try at writing fanfic, so please be nice. All comments are welcome though

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**Part 1**

Jack dropped the thick folder onto the table in front of him with a loud thud, pushing back his chair as he did so. His light brown hair was in its usual untidy style, and his long blue/grey jacket was draped over the back of his chair. He stood up and looked around at the other people in the room.

"Well, I guess that's that case wrapped up." He said as he looked around, "Ianto, if you could store the file with all the others I'd be grateful."

Ianto nodded, pushing his own chair back and walking round the table to pick up the folder. The other Torchwood members began picking up their jackets and pens, standing up to head back to the main room of the hub. Owen slid a second file full of his own medical notes on the alien creature they had picked up only a few hours ago on the edge of Cardiff. The Ilnæd had been causing the Torchwood team no end of trouble over the past few weeks, kidnapping a number of children from their homes and taking their energy as its food source. Luckily all of the ten children that had been taken had been found alive, and returned to their homes by Ianto, Toshiko and Gwen earlier that day, a little tired but unharmed.

Ianto nodded gratefully to him, picking up the second folder along with the one Jack had given him. Catching Jack's eye, Ianto flashed him a shy smile, which was returned warmly.

"Is it alright if I go now?" Gwen's voice cut into their look, making both of them snap their gaze to another part of the room, "Only I'm supposed to be meeting Rhys later, he's cooking me dinner" Her accented voice gave away her happiness and excitement whenever she spoke of her Fiancé. Toshiko smiled at her friend and colleague's excitement.

"What's he making you?" She asked Gwen in her quite voice.

"Hopefully not a big mess" Gwen joked, "He's not the most talented person when he comes to the kitchen. Half the time he tries to make something ridiculously complicated, and we end up having to order in a pizza or something!" The two of them laughed, and Ianto and Jack smiled. Owen rolled his eyes at them all, pulling on his favourite black leather jacket over his shirt.

"Yeah, mind if I go too? I've got some stuff to do." Owen asked

"You can all go if want to." Jacks American voice was filled with amusement at his team. "Nothing unusual has appeared on the monitors for days apart from our little Ilnæd problem, and I doubt he's going to be bothering us again any time soon."

The team had been too late to bring the creature back alive. It had consumed too much energy from the children it had taken, and become ravenous and insane. The only safe way for everyone to stop the creature had been to kill it, though none of them had been happy about it. They had brought the body back to the hub so that Owen could do a final analysis on it, before they had wrapped up the case.

"Thanks Jack!" Gwen called to him, grinning as she hurried out of the door.

"Yeah, thanks Jack" Owen said in his usual uninterested and distracted voice.

"Are you sure?" Toshiko asked uncertainly, edging towards the door, obviously keen to leave their work place and get back to her familiar and comforting apartment. Jack nodded to her encouragingly.

"Go on, you've earned it. Just make sure you're all here on time tomorrow. Preferably _without_ a hang over Owen!" He called after the retreating figures.

"Sure, whatever!"

Jack rolled his eyes at this, before turning back to Ianto, who was still standing behind him.

"Feel like staying for a bit longer?"

Gwen stepped out of the dim lighting of the fake shop and out into the bright sunshine of a fading summer day. Behind her, Owen and Tosh followed her out into the fresh air, and the three of them stopped in the doorway for a moment, just enjoying the feel of the warm sun and cool breeze of the day, so wonderful and refreshing after hours shut up in the hub below ground.

"Well, I guess I'll see you both tomorrow then." Tosh said, smiling in her own, shy way and beginning to head off to the right, towards her apartment.

"Yeah, see you later Tosh, Gwen." Owen said, also starting forwards towards the main road and his own home.

"Bye guys. See you tomorrow" Gwen called after them, watching them go for a moment, before beginning to make her own way home. She smiled as she though of Jack and Ianto back in the hub, most likely soon to be oblivious to the rest of the world. The two of them seemed to think that the rest of the Torchwood team hadn't noticed their relationship, but to be honest, they couldn't have made it more obvious if they had tried.

Hurrying across the busy road, she pulled her jacket closer around herself as a bitter wind sprang up as she entered the shade of a side street, pulling at her clothes and hair. As she walked past one of the many side alley ways that held the rubbish of the large houses either side, a movement caught her eye, and she glanced sideways. A girl sat cross legged in the centre of the alleyway, a short way back from the entrance. Her long black hair fell over her face slightly, shadowing her features from Gwen's view. Her head was tilted downwards, and she seemed to be looking past the floor, at something deeper below the earth's surface. She wore a dark blue jacket over a high necked, dark rusty red coloured top, and black trousers. Her feet were bare, and revealed her strangely pale skin. Her hands rested gently in her lap.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" Gwen asked her curiously, slowing to a stop and watching the girl from the edge of the alleyway. She remained motionless, not reacting in the slightest to Gwen's voice. The growingly cold wind rushed down the small alleyway, blowing Gwen's dark hair all over the place and making her clothes flap about, but the girl in front of her remained untouched, almost as if she were…in another time…

Gwen took another step forwards her, and called out again in a louder voice: "Excuse me? Can you hear me, are you alright?"

The Girl looked up.

Black eyes bored into her mind, piercing into her innermost thoughts and laying bare all of her memories. Gwen gasped in pain, clutching at her head, and fell to her knees. Everything turned to confusion. Thoughts, feelings, memories. All surfacing at random moments, as if someone was rifling through her head, reading her memories. Gwen felt herself fall backwards onto the ground, but she could barely see or feel anything anymore. The vivid flashes of images danced across her eyes.

Then just as suddenly, it was all over. Breathing hard, Gwen looked up. The girl was still sitting in the same place, dark eyes still staring fixedly at her. Cautiously, Gwen pulled herself to her feet, watching the girl in front of her all of the time.

She blinked.

Suddenly, with no movement, the black, haunted eyes were mere inches away from her own. Gwen let out a scream and stumbled back away from the girl, who was now leaning against the wall of the alleyway, watching her. Gwen's eyes darted back and forth from where the girl had been sitting mere seconds ago, and where she now stood. No one could move across an alleyway in the time she took to blink.

"What are you?!" Gwen stuttered at her, pulling back out into the street, which was still deserted.

"I watch. I wait. I listen to your thoughts, your dreams, your wishes. And then I come."

Her voice was soft, like an echo in the dark. The girl crept forwards, lithe as a cat whilst still leaning heavily on the wall, stopping at the exit to the narrow gap. Gwen took another step back. She was now standing in the middle of the road, but the entire street was deserted except for them. She could hear the faint roar of the traffic on the main road, but it was too far away for anyone to hear her shouts.

"He never made this much fuss" The girl said suddenly, her voice wondering and cold.

"What do you mean?" Gwen demanded, "Who's he?"

"Many people know him. Not all like him. He's suspicious of some."

"Who!?"

"Your friend. Rhys"

Gwen ran.


	2. Chapter 2

_Du caa y funmt eh y knyeh uv cyht_

_Yht y rayjah eh y femtvmufan_

_Du rumt ehvehedo eh dra byms uv ouin ryht_

_Yht adanhedo eh yh ruin._

Toshiko pulled out her keys from her small black bag she had slung over her shoulder, letting them dangle, jingling slightly from her slim fingers. Stepping up to the front door of her block of flats, she slid the small golden key into the lock and pushed the door open, letting it swing silently closed behind her. She stopped for a moment, leaning back against the smooth wood, enjoying that first moment of quiet she loved when she stepped into the spacious foyer of the flats.

Then, sighing, she opened her eyes once more, and walked forwards, heading towards the stairs. Looking over at the board to see if she had any messages, she was surprised to see that it was completely blank. Normally there was at least one message on there for one of the six flats, even if it was written by them, like "Buy milk" or "feed Betty's cat". But there was nothing except the gleaming smooth white.

Shrugging slightly, Tosh continued on her way up the red carpeted stairs in front of her, heading for the lift. Her flat was on the fourth floor, a spacious and comfortable living space that she had grown to love. It was her only sanctuary from the madness of her working life and Torchwood.

Stepping up to the polished metal doors, she pushed the small arrow button for up, which lit up a glowing red colour. Humming slightly, Tosh fiddled with the keys in her hand, making them jingle in time to the tune in her head.

Suddenly she became aware of a presence next to her, and she looked round. A small boy was standing there, no more than seven or eight years old, wearing dark blue jeans and a red GAP hoody. His sandy coloured hair was brushed back neatly, and he was staring at the grey doors of the lift, as if unaware of Toshiko being there.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" Tosh asked him nervously. She was unaware of any children living in the flats, or of any families in the building who might have a child come to visit. There certainly wasn't anyone new in, unless they had moved in over the past two days, and she thought that very unlikely.

The boy didn't answer, and Tosh didn't ask him again. Perhaps he was a child of one of the residents' friends or something, and was too shy to talk to strangers or something.

There was a soft 'ping', and the lift doors slid smoothly open with a quiet hiss. The familiar lift voice entered into the empty corridor, saying "Doors opening. Lift going up." No one got out, so Tosh stepped forwards and into the small room, followed by the boy, who stood in the opposite corner, watching her intently. Shaking off a sudden nervous feeling that washed over her, Tosh pushed the button for the forth floor.

"Which floor would you like?" She asked the boy, for some reason unable to meet his eyes. They were too dark and unnerving.

The boy didn't answer her, merely continued to watch her with those strange black eyes, and as the doors hissed quietly closed, Toshiko realised that something definitely wasn't right.

Owen Harper strolled casually down one of the busy main streets of Cardiff's mazelike centre. He didn't really feel like going home just yet, and he'd only said he'd had things to do at home to get off work early. Now he was free for the rest of the calmly fading afternoon, and the cool breeze that pulled at his short brown hair and black leather jacked was helping to clear away the remnants of the smells of Torchwood, including that of the fast decomposing body of the Ilnæd.

Stopping for a moment, Owen leaned over the black railing that ran around the edge of the docks, and looked out over the gently rolling ocean. Small sailing boats bobbed about on the gentle swell of the waves, and further out there were the silhouettes of much larger ships carrying cargo and passengers. The faint roar of an aeroplane came rushing over his head, and he looked up as the huge machine pulled itself up into the sky.

After a moment, he pulled back from the railings and began strolling once more down the road, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets. His long fingers felt something cool and square in his pocket, and he pulled it out, stopping as he did so. Tosh's data gig. He'd borrowed it earlier that day and forgotten to give it back. He swore under his breath. She'd be looking for it later. Glancing at his watch, he turned around, and began heading in the opposite direction, towards Tosh's apartment. It'd only take a few minutes to get there, and he had time.

Looking both ways, he crossed the busy road at a jog to avoid the many cars, buses and taxi's that filled the city. Toshiko's apartment was the nearest to the Hub out of the three of theirs homes, and Owen was soon making his way up her street.

Stopping outside of the apartment block, he glanced upwards at the building, before pressing the bell button for floor four, Tosh's apartment. The slight breeze that had seemed so nice on the main road seemed to be amplified down the narrower road, and he shivered slightly as the wind sliced through his clothes.

After a few moments, he pressed the button again, and called through the intercom

"Tosh? Tosh its Owen. I've got your Data gig thingy here, and I thought you might want it back. Plus, I didn't really want to have to carry it around with me all night."

No answer. Then:

"They're frightened. They're always frightened. Then the nightmares come. If they weren't frightened then they wouldn't come"

The young child's voice came through the intercom, strange and muffled, sending a chill down Owen's back.

"Who's that? Tosh are you in there?"

"The Japanese girl doesn't like to dream. And they're so complicated. All that data, takes so long to comprehend. But she's clever. Oh yes, oh so clever. Little Toshiko Sato, so clever, yet so alone."

"What have you done to her?" Owen's voice was low and dangerous as he spoke into the little speaker.

"Only shown her what she already sees. Just more real. Isn't that what they asked?"

Static suddenly sounded over the speaker, and Owen jumped back slightly as sparks flew out of it with a loud popping noise.

"Tosh!" he shouted, before grabbing the door handle. Whatever was up there was not human, and whatever it was, it didn't sound like the type of thing you casually invited over for a cup of tea and a chat.

The door was, as he had expected, locked. Owen swore loudly, hitting the solid wood in frustration. Suddenly, he remembered Toshiko casually mentioning a spare key hidden behind the square of wood that portrayed the number "42", the house number for the apartment block. Shifting the wood aside, he grabbed the key from the small gap behind it, stuffed it into the lock, and shoved open the door, which banged against the wall behind it. Throwing the key back into place and sliding the wood back over it, Owen cautiously entered the building, keeping his hand in his pocket on the handle of his gun. He didn't dare take it out in case one of the other residents saw him.

He was glad that he'd shoved it into his pocket for once, instead of the back of his trousers where he normally kept it. It was more accessible in his pocket. Stepping forwards, his dark eyes scanned the foyer of the block. Empty and silent.

Hurrying forwards, he headed over to the lifts and pressed the up button, which lit up red. The hallway was so quiet. Too quiet.

He could hear the whir of the lift as it slowly descended towards him, and the annoying voice of the lift woman telling the empty box what floor it was on.

There was a soft ping as lift arrived, and Owens grip on his gun tightened as the doors slid smoothly apart.


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's chapter three for you all. Sorry it's been ages. Frantic revision for french orals has been forced to come first Anyway, thanks for all the reviews from everyone! I didn't realise how much people liked it!_

_Next chapter coming soon!_

_Dni funmt ec toehk_

_Dni baubma yna tyshat_

_Oad fa cdemm ku oh mejehk_

_Yc ev hudrehk femm ryja luhcaxiahlac_

_Oad huf drao lusa_

_Yht byhel yht cunnuf femm naekh_

''_floor four. Doors opening"_

The cool voice of the lift operator echoed out into the empty corridor as the lift doors open smoothly with a sigh. Owen raised his gun once more, no longer worried about being seen. 

He'd tried to contact Jack at the HUB, or any of the others, but there had been no reply. Something was jamming the communication lines. They weren't so irresponsible to have all of them switched off, especially not Ianto. But not even he had replied when Owen had called them at least six times since entering the building. He was on his own.

No one in sight, he stepped out into the short corridor, keeping one eye on the large windows that lined one wall. Tosh's door was just opposite him, and he edged forwards cautiously. The entire building was silent, as if frozen in time somehow. Owen crept noiselessly across the softly carpeted floor of the corridor, trying to breathe silently. 

Reaching the red stained wooden door, Owen stood to the side and put his ear up against the wall, listening for any signs of movement. Nothing. 

"Tosh? Its Owen. Can you hear me?" He shouted through the door, gun raised, tensed ready in case whatever it was in there with her came bursting out of the apartment to attack him. 

No reply. 

"Tosh!" He called once more, louder this time. He knew she was here. She always headed straight back to her apartment when she left work. "Tosh, I'm coming in."

He waited for a moment in case the thing reacted to this. When nothing still happened, he stepped round in front of the door, and took a deep breath…

With a crash, the door flew open, and Owen stepped into the entrance hall of Toshiko's flat, gun raised, finger on the trigger, ready. Keeping his eyes alert and covering himself from all sides with the weapon, Owen cautiously headed through further into his friend and colleges home. 

He was worried, but refused to let it show, or interfere with his concentration. Instead, he pushed it to the back of his mind and continued onwards through the flat. It was silent still. He'd heard nothing but the sound of his own breathing, his own heartbeat, his voice since entering the building, as if someone had hit the mute button on everything except him. Oh yeah, and the door of course. That had made a pretty loud noise as he had less than carefully forced it open. 

Stepping up to the entrance to the lounge area, Owen stood with his back against the wall, checked behind him, before peering around the corner into the living space, tensed in case he had to jerk back from any attack. Nothing. The lounge was deserted, full of Tosh's simple yet stylish furniture, with a TV in the far corner, and by the opposite wall…

"Tosh!" Owen took one last look around the room, before hurrying in and across to Toshiko, who was slumped, unconscious against the wall. He crouched down beside her, and pulled out the small medical kit he carried in his pocket at all times. Snapping the box open, he was about to begin checking her over, when she moved slightly and let out a soft moan.

"Tosh? Tosh can you hear me?" Owen asked her urgently, whipping out his small pen-torch from a pocket in his jacket, flicking it on and checking her eyes. 

"Owen?" She murmured, her voice dull and groggy. 

"Yeah it's me Tosh. What happened here?" Owen put his arm round her and helped her to stand, leading her gently over to one of her long blue sofas and sitting her down carefully. She began to speak slowly, and Owen listened silently as he checked her over for any signs of damage.

"When I came home there was – there was this boy standing by the lifts. He seemed to just have…appeared as I reached them, and he didn't answer me when I asked him where he was going. There's no kids here…no relatives either as far as I know. Ow!" She winced as Owen gently touched a small scar on her forehead. The underneath was bruised, and there was some dried blood covering the wound, making it look worse.

"I must have done that when I fell." She continued, wincing slightly as Owen continued checking her over. "The boy followed me into the lift, and when he looked at me I could tell that there was something unnatural about him. His eyes – they were so dark. Black as the void. He did something to me when he looked at me, making my head feel like it was being split in half with a blunt blade. It was as if I had no control. Then I started seeing things – as if he put them there. Nightmarish things…things I've only ever seen…not even in my imagination. The next thing I remember, I was in here. He was standing, looking at me from over there." She pointed to the far corner, which was darkened as it was away from the long windows. Light still streamed in from them, showing them the fading light of the summer's day.

"He said something to me as he stood there, though his voice wasn't that of a seven year old boy. It was something older. Much older. Timeless. Neither male nor female. Then I blacked out."

"It should have been recorded onto your internal security system. We'll get the tape, then take it back to the HUB. See what the others think." Owen began putting his medical equipment back into its small black bag. "You seem to be alright medically, though I'll give you a proper check over when we get back. Think you can stand?"

Tosh clambered to her feet, a little shaky but stable. 

"I'll be alright I think. Thanks." She added quickly as Owen turned to the door, "For, you know, coming up here for me and all."

"S'all right." Owen mumbled, not meeting her eye, "I only meant to return your Data gig." He pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it to her gently.

"Oh…right. Thanks…Owen" Tosh replied shyly, looking down at the small instrument in her hands.

The two of them were silent for a few minutes as they headed out of Toshiko's flat, pausing only to lock the door, before heading left slightly down the corridor to the small, private security room Tosh had had installed after she had begin working for Torchwood. All of them had one, and each had a direct link to the HUB, as well as a separate recording room nearby. 

Slipping inside, Owen neatly ejected the tape and slotted in a new one, before the two of them headed back to the lift, not meeting each others gaze as they descended in the small enclosed box. 


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone. Sorry for the huge delay in posting this. Haven't been able to get near a computer in over a week. Anyway, here's a very short chapter 4. C5 will be longer and more interesting, promice! (--)

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Gwen sprinted down the roads, breathing hard, heart pounding in her chest

Gwen sprinted down the roads, breathing hard, heart pounding in her chest. Reaching the front door to her block of flats, she fumbled with her keys, swearing loudly as she dropped them. Bending down, she grabbed them once more and seized the front door key. Stuffing it into the lock, she flung open the door, letting it bang back on the wall. She sprinted through the foyer, hearing faintly the click of the front door as it swung back closed.

Racing up the stairs, she arrived at her own front door, breathless and hot. Trying to catch her breath, she reached for the handle of her own front door and slotted her key into the lock. Taking a deep breath and dreading what she was about to find, she pushed it open.

Music filtered through to her ears at that moment, followed by the smell of something cooking, and someone singing. Hope rising, Gwen ran down the hallway.

Rhys looked up as his fiancé came running into the room, breathless and pink faced from running.

"Hello there" He said cheerfully as she ran to him and flung her arms around him. "Hey, what's all this about then, eh?" He asked, a little stunned but pleased at the same time. "I ain't set fire to the place yet if that's what you were worried about". He suddenly pulled her back slightly, looking into her deep brown eyes. "This is about your work isn't it? About Torchwood."

"I'm just glad you're safe."

"From what?"

"This…thing, I dunno what it was. Looked human but I wasn't so sure. Said it had been here, spoken to you. Said your name and everything. I thought it had…I dunno" She pulled her hair back from her face and sighed.

"Hey hey hey" Rhys said concerned, pulling her back close and holding her tight. "I'm alright. No one's been here. It's probably just someone trying to freak you out. Now come on. I've got a special treat for you."

He took her hand gently, and led her round the corner.

"Eyes closed!"

Smiling in spite of herself, Gwen closed her eyes trustingly and let Rhys lead her around the corner of their flat.

"Now, I hope you like this, because it took a long time, and I'm not really sure if its all right or anything, and there's probably something missing or something wrong…"

"Rhys I'm suspicious now, what is it?"

"Hold on there for two seconds" His hand slid out of hers, and she felt him move away from her. "Keep your eyes closed!" There was a soft clicking noise, followed by a second one a few moments later.

"What's that Rhys?"

"Ok, open them then"

Gwen slowly opened her eyes.

"Is this all alright. I wasn't sure if you liked this kind of thing or not…"

"Rhys I…Its perfect!"

In front of her was one of the small tables from the lounge area of their flat. The sofa's and chairs had all been pushed to the side, and the table was in the centre of the room. Two dining chairs sat at opposite ends of the table, and the room was dark, lit only by the light of two candles that stood majestically in the centre of the table. On the table, one of Gwen's posh table cloths was neatly covering the top, and a beautifully made dinner for two lay on her favourite table mats. A bottle of her favourite wine sat in between the candles, and two wine glasses stood ready.

"You like it then?" Rhys half laughed as he saw tears in his fiancé's eyes as she stepped forwards into his arms. He held her close, breathing in the soft smell of her dark hair.

"I love you Rhys Williams" Gwen said pulling back, looking deep into his eyes, before kissing him.

"I love you too"


	5. Chapter 5

_Tuh'd cdub ev E vymm_

_Yht tuh't muug pylg_

_Pypo tuh'd cdub, pino sa_

_Yht vyta du pmylg_

Ianto wondered slowly out of the back room. His hair was slightly messed up, and his hands automatically reached up and tried to flatten it down. The Hub was dark and silent, and somehow strangely peaceful. Ianto sighed and headed towards the coffee machine; hating to be away from Jack for more than a few minutes. He had swapped his usual smart suit and tie for a more casual white T-shirt and dark jeans.

Reaching up for two mugs, he froze for a moment as he heard a faint noise behind him, like the sighing of wind between trees. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the Hub, dark and empty still. Nothing more. Turning back, he grabbed their two favourite mugs and set them down under the complicated machine.

His fingers danced over the controls and buttons, and soon there was a faint whirring sound, followed by the strong scent of coffee. Something stirred behind him once more, and he turned around again, eyes searching the dark corners of the hub. A clatter came from the back room, and Ianto sighed, irritated with himself. It was just Jack moving around, nothing sinister or anything stupid like that.

A noise came from directly behind him, and this time Ianto whirled around, clutching the coffee spoon he'd picked up in his hand like a weapon. Something black flashed across his eyes, making him blink. He'd definitely not imagined it that time. There was someone or something else in the Hub with them.

"Owen?" He called out softly, "Tosh? Gwen?" Silence. He sighed, "Jack is that you? I'll be in in a minute. The coffee machine hasn't worked out how to teleport hot coffee into the mugs in a nano-second just yet. I'm afraid you're just going to have to wait for that, or hope that some alien comes along who just happens to have a super fast coffee machine." He turned back to the complex machine, which was now pouring the dark brown liquid into the two mugs.

The spoon clattered to the floor from Ianto's hand. He fell back a few steps.

"W-What the…How did you get in here? Who are you?!"

A girl stood next to the machine, one hand resting lightly on the dark marble table top that it stood on. She was tall and slim, with long black braided hair that fell past her shoulders, and rich dark skin. She seemed to make the room around her look ugly and small in comparison to her. None of that mattered. Ianto only had a few seconds to take in her appearance, before he saw her eyes.

Black. So dark as to make black seem bright and cheerful. He couldn't draw himself away. It was as if she had taken him over completely. His limbs felt paralysed, and no matter how much his mind was screaming at him to move, to run, to do something. His throat seemed to close up, making it difficult to breathe and impossible to call for Jack. He felt as though all rational thought was being swamped by those endless dark holes, leaving only the fear yelling at him to run.

Suddenly, everything was burnt out by the searing pain that exploded in his mind. Every inch of his mind and body was screaming with agony, yet he still could not move. Some tremendous force pushed him down to his knees, and he could give no resistance. Tears spilled from his wide and fearful eyes, which now matched the girl's, who was standing above him, face expressionless.

She faded from his vision, as darkness overwhelmed him. Ianto could hear himself screaming as if from some far away place that was both important and nothing at the same time. Images flared up in front of his blind eyes.

**Blood…his family…parents…brother…sister…the screams…the blood…pain…**

'_Such thoughts. Such imagination.'_

**Lisa…Cyber…metal…blood…screams…agony…fear…pain…**

'_More than the imagination'_

**Torchwood...blood…gunshot...Lisa…anger…blood…Toshiko…Blood…Owen…Blood…Gwen…Blood…Jack…death…blood…pain…pain…pain**

Ianto's eyes flew open, and he fell sideways to the floor screaming. Pain wracked his body, and for a moment the world was full of confusion. Slowly things came back into focus, the pain dulling into the background. He found himself lying curled up on the floor, tears streaming down his face.

"Ianto!"

Jacks voice broke the hideous silence that hung like thick mist inside the Hub. He slowly pushed himself up slightly as he heard Jack's running feet. Ianto looked down at himself for a moment, half expecting his white T-shirt to be stained with blood. He was shaking violently. No blood.

Then Jack was there, beside him and holding him tightly.

"What the hell happened in here? One minute I can hear you making the coffee, the next dead silence, and the next…" Jack failed to suppress the slight shudder that came with his memory of Ianto's Horrific screams.

"There…there was a girl in here" Ianto began slowly, his voice still shaking slightly. "She…It was as if she appeared from nowhere. I heard a noise before, but I thought it was just you."

"What did she look like?" Jack's American voice stayed calm, though inside he was troubled. What had made Ianto this afraid?

"I don't remember. It was just…her eyes, they were so…" Ianto trailed off, voice still choked with fear.

Jack held him closer, unnerved by what he had just heard. How had something that wasn't Torchwood staff managed to get into the Hub without any alarms or alerts going off? And what's more, where had it gone now?

The two of them stayed still for a while, both making the other feel just that bit safer; that bit calmer. Finally they got slowly to their feet, and lent against the worktop where the girl had been only a few minutes before. Ianto shuddered, and Jack pulled him into a half hug once more.

Suddenly the loud whir of the front door sounded, followed by the screech of the alarm. The two of them looked at each other, both suddenly wondering what it could be…

"Jack? Ianto? You there?"

Owens voice echoed through the Hub, and he sounded tense and nervous. Jack hurried forwards out into the main area.

"Owen, what are you doing here? I thought you'd all gone home for the day?"

Then he looked down next to Owen, at Tosh's pale face, the cut on her forehead, the same terrified expression that had been on Ianto's face only moments before.

_Oh great_ he thought to himself as the four of them stood looking at one another in silence, _This is worse than any of us could have predicted…_


	6. Chapter 6

The silence hung over them all as Toshiko finished her story. Her eyes had stayed firmly on the floor the whole time, her hands gripping her coffee mug tightly to stop them shaking. Owen placed his hand on her shoulder, an attempt to reassure her.

Ianto looked over at Jack, who was staring past Tosh into nothing. "What now Jack? You ever heard of anything like this happening before?" His quiet voice gently broke the silence around them, bringing Jack back into the present. He took a deep breath

"No, I've never seen anything like this before. Never."

"Do we have any idea what this thing even is?" Tosh asked, finally looking up

"All we know is that it seems to be able to get into your heads. Show you things, do something to you. And it can either change what it looks like...or there's more than one of them."

"Oh great!" Owen said, flinging his hands up, "So we have no clue what, when, where or who this thing is, or even if there are a million of them running around Cardiff hunting people down!"

Jack stood up suddenly. "Has anyone heard from Gwen? Anyone seen her since she left?" The others looked at each other, shaking their heads as worry crept across their faces. "Right" His voice took on his leader tone, "our first move is to make sure her and Rhys are ok, see if they know any more than we do. Tosh, Owen, check the records; see if there are any reports of anything like this ever happening before. Even vaguely related things, I want them checked and rechecked. Ianto, check the camera footage of around the outside, this thing may have been caught coming in or leaving again"

"What about you?" Ianto asked him, watching his boss's face.

"I'm gonna try ring Gwen, see if she's ok, get her and Rhys here as soon as possible. Whatever that thing is, it could go after them at any minute!"

Gwen took a last mouthful of the home made chocolate pudding and carefully placed her spoon back on the plate, licking her lips and grinning across the table at Rhys. He smiled back at her.

"I guess you're not going to collapse on me from food poisoning then?"

"Where did you learn to make that Rhys Williams? That was the nicest meal I've ever had!"

Rhys laughed "Well it's nice to be appreciated sometimes isn't it! As for where I got it from, that's a secret" he grinned, tapping the side of his nose which he knew infuriated her. "I've got to have some surprises up my sleeve for later dates" He stood up, taking her plate from in front of her and stacking it on his own.

Gwen rolled her eyes but grinned and, standing up, followed her fiancé into the kitchen. She put her arms around his neck after he had put the plates down and looked deep into his eyes. His arms wound around her waist and they kissed gently.

A huge crash resounded through the flat and the two of them sprung apart as if they had been electrocuted. Gwen's hand instantly went to her side, and she swore under her breath as she realised her weapon wasn't there. A horrible thought came to her mind, the words spoken by that strange girl only a few hours earlier.

"Rhys, I want you to stay in here, don't let anything in, you understand?" Her voice took on her commanding voice she had gained from her time in the police, though her nerves still slipped through.

"Why? What is it out there?" Rhys asked, taking a step back away from her, keeping his back to a wall, something he had learnt from her since finding out about torchwood

"If I'm honest, I have no idea. But if it's what I think it is, then I know it's not good."

Gwen crept forwards slowly, her eyes darting about the empty living room. Her jacket with her weapon hidden underneath it lay discarded on the couch against the opposite wall. With one final good check around, she stepped out into the room and hurried across to it. Her hand closed around the cold metal of the handle, and she felt strangely comforted by it.

A sharp bang behind her made her whirl around. The door to the kitchen, which had been wide open just a moment ago was now firmly shut. Fear started to rise up in her throat and she ran back across to it, grabbing the handle and twisting, pushing against the door. Nothing

"Rhys? Rhys are you ok? Open the door it's me!" she hammered against the wood desperately.

There was a crash from inside, then a yell.

"Rhys!"


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi guys. Thanks so much for all the alert updates, really makes me want to finish this finally __ Sorry its all taken a while, I'm in the middle of A level exams so I've got to revise. Nearly done now so I'll try update abit more frequently once they're out the way. Enjoyy!_

Jack held the phone to his ear, his fingers gripping the plastic tightly, listening to the 'buzz buzz' on the other end. He gave an exasperated sigh, and was about to throw the phone down when it fell silent.

"Hello? Gwen is that you?" Jack asked urgently. A child's voice seemed to giggle at him from a distance away from the phone, before the line went dead once more. He stared at the phone in his hand for a moment, not knowing what to think. Then slowly his brain filtered into action. Grabbing his long coat, he shot out of the door and down the stairs to the main floor of the hub, feeling the eyes of the others on him from their stations.

"Gwen's not answering her phone, and I've got a nasty feeling that this ... thing is at her house right now. I'm gonna go get her and Rhys and bring them both here. No," he said, cutting Owen and Ianto off as they both opened their mouths to offer to come along, "I need you all to stay here, keep an eye out for this thing and keep working. I'll be back soon" With that final word he ran through the cog like door and was gone.

The others shared a worried glance between them. "He shouldn't have gone on his own" Ianto said quietly.

"Jack knows what he's doing." Owens voice was surprisingly gentle, "Besides, like he said, he needs us to get this research done. The quicker we find out what this thing is, the quicker we can deal with it"

Ianto said nothing in reply though it was clear through his body language that he was not so certain. A 'pling' sound emitted from Toshiko's computer, and she let out a small gasp as she stared at the info now in front of her. The two men instantly left their own stations and came to stand behind her, their eyes slowly widening as they read the words on the screen:

__

The text scrolled faster and faster across the screen until it was just a blur. Then

_Hello Torchwood._

Toshiko took an involuntary step back from the computer screen, whilst Ianto and Owen could only stare at the cursor flashing, waiting for their reply. Owen leaned forwards to the keyboard.

"No wait!" Ianto said sharply "We shouldn't reply to it"

"Why not?" Owe asked "It can't exactly do anything to us through a computer screen. Besides, it's only saying Hello" He leaned over once more and slowly pressed the keys

_Hello there_

The reply was instantaneous

_Why are you afraid?_

Owen looked at the other two. No one said anything, so he typed again

_I'm not_

_No Owen Harper, not yet. Ianto Jones and Toshiko Sato are though._

_That's because you scared them_

_I didn't mean to. Why won't you look at me?_

_You're not here_

_I am. I'm looking at you right now. Please look at me_

The three of them stared at the last words on the screen, none of them daring to look away, not knowing what they would see.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry everyone for the delay :S I know I keep making excuses, so the truth is I simply had no idea what to put next! Having some inspiration at the moment, so I'm going to write as much as I can right now and update it slowly so you all have time to enjoy it like I said, sorry again! xxxx

The SUV screeched around the corner and swerved between two cars, narrowly missed a kid on his bike and came rocketing to a halt outside of Gwen and Rhys' building. Jack clutched his phone to his ear as he leapt out. "C'mon Gwen, c'mon!" Jack hissed into the handset, jamming it back into his pocket with a frustrated sigh.

He looked up at the small tower block. The whole thing was in darkness, unusual considering the early evening hour. His fingers curled around the familiar cool metal of his gun as he slowly crept towards the front door. With a light tap, he found the front door ajar, and with a deep breath he stepped inside, automatically checking from side to side.

The corridor within was quite and normal looking. Even the post boxes seemed untouched, paper and parcels lying neatly waiting for their owner. It was almost too quiet. Jack made his way slowly up the stairs, eyes and ears straining for any sign of something amiss. Reaching Gwen's door, he carefully tried the handle, stepping quickly back out of sight as it slowly swung open.

"Gwen?" He called clearly, peering around into the flat. Seeing nothing, he stepped inside, checking all directions for attack. He could hear a noise coming from the direction of the kitchen, and he slowly stepped through the lounge room, where the table was still set up for their romantic meal. He looked into the kitchen and saw two shadows huddled on the floor.

"Gwen!" He shouted, holstering his weapon and running to her side. She was crouched on the floor over a limp, lifeless shape. "Gwen, what happened?" He demanded, forcing himself to look down at what he already knew was there, Rhy's lifeless body. Gwen herself just stared down at her lovers frozen features, seeming not to notice Jack's presence.

"Gwen!" he half shouted this time, putting his hands either side of her face and forcing her to look at him. "Gwen, I need you to tell me what happened here. What happened to Rhys?"

"It...it was the little girl" Gwens voice was hollow and drained of emotion.

"What little girl? I need to know exactly what happened!"

"The little girl. She came here somehow. I heard laughing, and somehow...I knew it was her. She shut the door on me, made me listen to what she was doing to him." For the first time she met Jacks eyes, and he was horrified at the emptiness that had replaced the usual glint of a smile.

"It was horrible Jack. He was screaming, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. She's done something to him, and now he won't wake up." Her eyes filled with tears once more, and Jack held her close, breathing in the soft scent of her hair as his mind raced. Could this have been the same thing that Ianto had seen earlier that day? Or even whatever it was that had attacked Tosh? What was certain was that this series of events were definitely linked in some way, and he was now determined to find out. Nothing and no one got away with hurting his team if he had anything to do with it.

Shifting his position, he pulled out his mobile and quickdialed the hub.

"Ianto, get Owen to prep the med bay, make it confortable."

Ianto's voice came murmering back through the phone speaker.

"No, she's fine" Jacks voice remained calm and confident, in charge at all times, "Its Rhys, something attacked him and we need to find out what. First of all I'm bringing both him and Gwen back to the hub. Its not safe here now either."

There were a few more murmurings from the other end of the phone, and then Jack rang off.

"Right, Gwen I need you to help me move Rhys, we can't stay here any more. Gwen!" He shouted at her again when she showed no signs of having heard him. Snapping out of the trance she seemed to have been left in, she slowly pulled herself to her feet.

"The SUV's right outside the front door, its not far. We need to move though, now!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_*RING RING*_

All three of them jumped, Tosh letting out a small scream as the sound of Ianto's mobile echoed out into the hub. When they looked back at the screen, the lists and screens of Toshiko's data were back. There was no evidence of the eerie conversation that had just taken place.

Ianto glanced down at the screen, then cautiously answered it, visibly relaxing when Jacks American accent came through the speaker. Owen rolled his eyes and wondered back over to his own work station as if nothing had happened.

"What do you mean the med bay, whats happened? Are you ok? Is Gwen ok?" Ianto's tone made the others look up.

"Was it the same thing as before?...Right ok, yep, bye!" Ianto rang off. "Owen, Jack says to get the medical bay ready, they're bringing Rhys in."

"What, Rhys is dead?" Toshiko sounded worried

"No, I don't think so. Jack just said he'd been attacked at their flat and they need to bring him in quickly. And that we were to make him comfortable"

Owen rolled his eyes at this last part, but walked off to get his area prepared for the new arrival.

"Did he say if Gwen is ok? She must be so upset" Tosh as always thinking of her friend.

"Jack said she was fine, but you know him, that probably just means that she's not physically hurt. I guess we'll know more when they arrive."

Toshiko didn't look overly convinced, but turned back to her workstation all the same and continued scanning for any leads or information on whatever this thing was. Images flickered past on Ianto's computer as it scanned for unusual movements or people trying to enter the building.

"Do you...do you think that, whatever it is, was really in here?" Ianto jumped slightly at Tosh's voice. They had been working in silence for a number of minutes now, and he had been lost in thought and watching the videos for anything unusual.

"What do you mean?"

"It said in the message, I'm looking at you right now. It wanted us to look around at it. The only way that could have been true or possible would have been for it to have been in here with us" Tosh tried and failed to keep the nervous edge out of her voice as she spoke.

"No" Ianto said firmly, keeping his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him. Tosh looked over, surprised at the sudden certainty in Ianto.

"But she said..."

"I said no!" Tosh was taken aback at this, Ianto rarely raised his voice at anything. He was always the calm and gentle one, always there with a cup of coffee and a small smile. Now though, his stance seemed rigid, and his hand was tightly gripping the computer mouse so she could see the whites of his knuckles.

"She...It can't have been here" he continued in more normal tones. "If it had, the hub would have picked it up when it entered and raised the alarm. Or at least the camera's would have picked something up. As it is, I've found nothing out of the ordinary coming near the hub."

Tosh looked away, unconvinced. Clearly this thing had affected Ianto more than he was letting on, but she wasn't about to push the matter. She wasn't feeling so confident about it all herself.

A loud clatter and the sound of Owen swearing reached their ears, and Tosh couldn't help but smile. Typical Owen, even in the middle of the end of the world he'd still be the same old Owen. Her smile faded a little as she also remembered that the same old Owen she was thinking about was also the one who never even noticed her.

Finally after what seemed like hours to the Torchwood crew, the wailed, the lights flashed and the cog-like door to the hub smoothly rolled open. Jack swept through it, coat billowing behind it. Owen secretly believed that Jack had somehow configured it to do that just for the effect.

"Owen, we need a stretcher out here now! We need to get Rhys inside." The two men grabbed the makeshift bed between them and ran out of the door once more, returning minutes later with Gwen and the still form of Rhys.

"Oh my..." Toshiko put her hand to her mouth as she saw Gwens fiancé being carried past. Owen and Jack were talking quickly in low voices, Owen gaining as much information about the attack as he could. Both Tosh and Ianto followed behind the small procession, stopping at the top of the small flight of stairs leading down into Owen's Laboratory/medical area. Jack gently detached Gwen's hand from Rhys', and carefully led her back up to where the others were standing.

Tosh took her friends arm and gently led her away from the scene, talking to her calmly. Down below them Owen had instantly set to work, preparing scans and setting out his equipment. Ianto looked over at Jack watching the scene below.

"Its the same thing isn't it." Ianto said quietly, "The same thing that was in here, the same thing that attacked Tosh."

"We don't know that for certain, it could be a number of things. Maybe Rhys just...hit his head or something" Jack tried to sound reassuring, but Ianto knew him well enough by now to recognise the slight waver in his voice that meant he didn't believe his own words.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Owen looked at the results he had just collected from the computer, a frown on his face. He looked down at Rhys on the table next to him, then back at the piece of paper in his hand. Jack reappeared at the top of the stairs to the lab area, his usual mug of coffee in his hand.

"What is it?" He called down in response to Owen's confused look.

"I'm not sure...The scans say that he's totally normal, completely healthy. But clearly as we can see, he's not"

Jack looked down at the results. "Have you got any clue as to what that thing did to him? Anything at all? Because whatever it is its dangerous. And we have to stop it"

Owen shook his head. "No, the only thing I can tell is that Rhys is in a very deep sleep, and for whatever reason, nothing we do can wake him up. There's nothing more I can do for him."

"Ok well, make him as comfortable as you can and keep monitoring him. I want to know immediately if there's any change in his condition. Oh also..." His voice quietened as he turned to leave again "If its ok with you, I'm gonna let Gwen come down here. She should be with him"

Owen merely nodded as Jacks footsteps receded into the distance.

'_Owen'_

He looked up sharply at the faint whisper; half believing what he'd heard was simply a breeze rustling the papers on the desk next to him and not that eerie voice he'd been hearing all day.

Shaking himself, he got back to sorting his files and setting up his equipment so that he could give Gwen some space when she came down.

'_Owen'_

This time there was no mistaking his name.

"Tosh? Gwen? Anyone there?" as always, his voice came out practical and calm, though he could feel himself growing tense and his fingers itched to reach for the weapon in the back of his jeans.

'_E lyh caa oui. E lyh rayn oui. E ghuf ouin tnaysc yht ouin hekrdsynac'_

This time they came from all around, harsh and cold. The words penetrated into his head and burned into his mind, making him gasp and clutch at his ears, trying to block them out. A sudden wind seemed to have whipped up from nowhere, disturbing the paper and random items in the room.

'_E ghuf ouin tacenac yht vaync' E lyh caa ajanodrehk eh ouin seht'_

"What do you want from us?" Owen growled through gritted teeth, the pain steadily building in his head. He could feel something in the wind tugging at him, trying to make him turn around to look at something. He closed his eyes and stubbornly fought against it

'_Fro fuh'd oui muug yd sa? Fro fuh'd oui caa sa?'_

"Leave me alone!"

'_Bmayca...'_

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, all activity ceased. Paper fluttered to the floor, and a final clatter sounded as a pencil tumbled from the desk. Standing up straighter and cautiously lowering his hands, Owen looked around him at the devastation. Rhys was in an island of calm, none of the mess having touched him. The rest of the room was covered in bits and pieces that had a few moments ago been neatly tidied away.

Jack, Tosh and Gwen appeared at the top of the stairs at that moment. Tosh and Jack looked around at the mess in shock; Gwen only had eyes for her fiancé.

"Owen, what the hell just happened here? I leave you for 5 minutes and you trash the place" Jack said, half joking, half deadly serious.

"Are you alright?" Tosh hurried down the stairs to him, checking him over. "You're bleeding..." She touched his ear gently.

"Yeah I'm fine" Owen said brusquely, stepping away from her and quickly wiping the side of his head with the back of his hand. "I don't know what just happened, there seemed to be some kind of breeze in here, just appeared out of nowhere."

"Well you and Tosh get this cleared up quickly, we got work to do. Gwen..." Jack spoke to her gently, taking her arm, "You don't have to stay here if you don't want to. Likewise you can take as long as you want."

"I...I want to stay here" Her voice came out husky and empty as she slowly stepped forwards and lowered herself into the chair next to Rhys. After a moment, her hand reached out and their fingers became intertwined. Jack motioned to the other two to follow him back up the stairs.

"Give her a few minutes and then get clearing up. I'm gonna go through some of the old reports; see if nothing like this has ever happened before." Jack swept off before they had a chance to get a word in edgeways. They looked at each other for a moment before looking away again awkwardly. They were both thinking the same thing, but neither of them wanted to be the one to say it. Whatever it was that was going on, it was clearly specifically targeting the Torchwood team. The thing that wasn't clear was how far it would go before they could work something out


	11. Chapter 11

Hi readers. I have to apologise once again for the lack of updates you have been experiencing. First term at university has been rather hectic with work and all, so I've needed to get my head around that really before getting back to this. Thanks to Marauder in Disguise for poking me into writing more. Another update is coming rather soon (I'm in the middle of writing it!). Just thought I'd let you know I'm still alive and still writing. Enjoy! Feel free to comment :)

Chapter 11 

_Watching...waiting in the shadows. Each figure, moving through the blurred and strange light, getting equal amounts of observation._

_The first: Tall confident, hiding his fears for his team behind his confident and arrogant exterior. _

_The second: Smart. Always smart in his appearance. Yet lacking in confidence. The most afraid, the easiest target_

_The third: Dead inside. Eyes only for the one lying down. Her dreams and fears buried too deep in grief_

_The fourth: arrogant and aloof, hiding his fear for himself and one of the others. His dreams the most interesting to play with, but the response was the hardest to get_

_The fifth: Sweet little thing. Simple dreams, usual fears. Immensely intelligent, care specifically for one of the others. _

_Follow the second. The most afraid. His mind was the easiest to infiltrate in the first place. Bar the one lying down, but that was just for sport. Now is the time to start for real. _

_Follow the second. Nothing can happen whilst the others can see. Stay to the shadows where they can't see. Mustn't be seen. Not yet. Not until it's their time. Wait for him to do what he does best. What makes him feel better in difficult situations, what he believes makes them all feel better. _

_Follow the second. Just a few tendrils of thought. His mind has already been touched once, it's not hard to do it again, guide his thoughts in the right direction. Slowly though, gently. Too much too quickly and he will notice something is amiss, like the one before. _

_Watch the second. Watch as he stands up from his place, walks away. Follow him towards the separate room where no one else is. Walks through the door. Now he is alone. Now he is mine..._


	12. Chapter 12

_Here's the next update (slightly late) as promised. I'm already working on the next part, so hopefully chapter 13 shouldn't take too long! Glad you're all still following :) Enjoyy!_

Chapter 12

Jack sat back in his chair with a sigh, rubbing his eyes with his hands. He had a huge pile of folders on the table in front of him, and no idea where to start. The looks of the other members of the team had been getting too much for him, and he could no longer bare to look at Gwens empty stare as she looked at her unconscious fiancé.

One other thing was bothering him though: why had these things not attacked him? Each of the other members of the team had come into contact with at least one of them, except for him. Not that he wanted to be attacked, but it was making studying them very difficult. Or were they even a they? For all he knew the torchwood team could be dealing with different forms of the same creature or many different ones all working towards the same goal...which was what exactly? So far all it had done was scare them before it went after Rhys. That had been a brake in the pattern. Unless it was its/their way of scaring Gwen; taking the fight out of her.

He stood up and walked over to the window of his office, looking down into the Hub at the other members of his team. Owen and Tosh were standing together near to the steps down to the lab, where he could vaguely see the outline of Gwen sitting next to the table where Rhys lay. He looked away from them, unable to watch for long. He felt guilty at being unable to protect them, when he had sworn to do just that. He instead looked back at Owen and Toshiko. The brief glimmer of a smile danced across his face as he watched them. It was obvious to all bar seemingly the two of them how they felt about each other. Owen was much harder to read than Toshiko, but Jack had spent a long time reading and was fairly sure by now. Looking around, he finally spotted Ianto sitting at his computer desk, watching the flickering screen. Jacks expression softened for a moment as his gaze lingered for a moment.

Stepping back towards the desk, he let out a long sigh again. He had looked through all of the files before, knew half of them back to front, and knew he would find nothing helpful. Except...Sitting back down, he looked thoughtful for a moment, before digging through the mountain of papers and folders.

Ianto sat at his desk, staring unseeing at the computer screen in front of him. Images were still flashing up from the research he had set going earlier, but he couldn't concentrate. Anyway, the computer programme would pick up on anything important, his watching it was just as a precaution. He could hear Tosh and Owen talking quietly over by the stairs as they gave Gwen some space and time with Rhys.

Jack had disappeared up into his office area to look at the old reports, though Ianto knew he really needed space himself, from the team and their frightened looks at him to tell them all it would be ok, that he could get them out of it as usual. He felt bad for him, but there was nothing he could say to make it easier. Jack was the leader of the team, and took his duties as a leader very seriously.

He felt strangely isolated sitting at the desk. He didn't want to disturb Jack, and he always felt slightly distanced from the others, especially Owen. He still seemed to think of Ianto as their servant rather than a member of the team, which usually made him feel awkward. And he had no idea what to say to Gwen.

He shivered slightly, suddenly, as if a cold breeze had suddenly rushed through the hub, though the air was still. He looked around, but none of the others seemed to have noticed. Looking up, he saw the shadow of Jack moving away from the window of his office. Clearly he had been looking down at the hub, keeping an eye on his team.

Ianto suddenly felt really out of place just sitting there by the computer desks in the middle of the room. Standing up, he decided to make everyone a drink. It usually made them all feel much more normal when they had a mug of steaming coffee in their hands, especially when they were on an extra weird job. None of the others looked around as he walked quietly across the room and into the small kitchen area where the coffee machine was. Instantly he felt more comfortable. He knew what he was doing here. This was something that he understood, whereas the majority of the rest of the team had no clue where to start with their old and weird coffee machine. Opening the cupboard, he began to pull out mugs and coffee grounds. Behind him, the door swung shut silently.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_Hello Ianto_

That cold, eerie voice caused the mug in Ianto's hand to slip, and land with a smash on the floor. The voice was the same as before, but the figure standing before him was different. Still the same jet black hair, but longer and flowing free. And she was as pale as snow, dressed in dark clothes apart from the blood red scarf hanging loosely around her neck. Instantly he looked away and began to back towards the door, looking anywhere but at her eyes. Those hideously dark eyes...

_Why do you run Ianto? I only want to play..._ _bmyo fedr ouin seht, bmyo fedr ouin tnaysc..._

"S-stop it. Just leave us alone" His back reached the solid wood of the door behind him, and his hand fumbled for the door handle.

_But don't you want to play? It won't hurt for long..._

She was walking towards him, following his every move with her darkened eyes. His questing fingers finally gripped the icy cold handle. The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped by a number of degrees all of a sudden. His fingers turned numb at the touch of the metal as he tried to turn the handle to open the door. It refused to budge. He pulled frantically at the door, the fear rising behind his eyes.

"Help me!" The scream escaped his lips without any conscious input from his paralysed mind, and his eyes squeezed themselves shut so tight that he saw phantom flashes of light behind his eyelids. "Gods please someone help!"

Something seemed to force his eyes to open once more. He caught a glimpse of those dark, hellish eyes and the pale features surrounding them. Then the whole world seemed to tip him forwards, and he was falling...falling...into darkness...

Jack glanced out of the window at the rest of the crew, in time to see Ianto disappearing into the kitchen. He smiled, shaking his head slightly. Everyone had their own ways of dealing with awkward situations. Ianto's way was to make constant mugs of coffee for the rest of the team. He looked down at them again. Something about the scene bothered him for a moment, but he dismissed it, turning his attention back to the document in his hand.

It was old and slightly damaged around the edge. This was one of the files he had managed to salvage from the wreckage of Torchwood one in London. It dated back to the 18th century, and contained information about a chain of strange deaths and the possible events that lead up to them. Some of them were clearly just everyday illnesses that had yet to be discovered at the time. But a large number were also clearly not natural. People spoke of seeing a stranger, dressed in extraordinary clothing, with eyes blacker than hell, wondering the streets and keeping to the shadows. This stranger took many different shapes: male, female, old, young...any combination of features possible. Only the eyes and the dark clothing remained the same. Whoever saw this figure soon started reporting hallucinatory symptoms, seeing weird creatures and shapes where no one else could, and hearing voices only they could hear. Finally each victim was found, lying as if dead, eyes wide and staring. Some it seemed came out of this comatose state, only to find their mind taken and their sanity in shreds. These poor people ended up becoming terrified of everything, and eventually dying, either by their own hand or by the merciful hand of those closest.

Jack shuddered slightly as he read the stories. He had overlooked this document before because of its overall strangeness and almost implausibility. But now, after seeing Rhys and hearing what the other team members had seen...now it actually seemed like the same being that had been present back then had returned, looking for more victims. But why had it chosen them? There was the whole of Cardiff open to it, for that matter the whole country, the world even! But it was specifically targeting the Torchwood team and those around them.

Jack flicked to the end of the document, trying to find out how the creature had been got rid of before. The document only ended with a warning. "Don't look into its eyes. Whatever you do, don't look in the eyes. They are the gateway to its power"

He looked back down at his team. Something was definitely bothering him about the scene before him. He scanned it slowly, taking in all of the details. Gwen was still just visible in Owens lab area, her fingers entwined with her fiancés. Tosh and Owen had now finished their conversation, and Tosh was now back at her desk, her slim fingers clicking away on her numerous computer keyboards and screens. Owen was finishing tidying up the mess left in his work space. He could see no sign of Ianto, but he assumed he was still in the kitchen making coffee. His eyes moved to the closed kitchen door...

Jack was down the stairs in a flash and running towards the kitchen. Both Owen and Tosh looked up startled as he tore passed, and even Gwen managed to drag her gaze away from her fiancé for a second.

"Jack, whats..." Toshiko started, before Jack began hammering at the kitchen door, attempting to turn the handle.  
"Ianto! Ianto can you hear me?" he shouted, wrenching at the handle as hard as he could. By this time the others had joined him.

"What is going on?" Toshiko asked in a worried voice.

"Ianto never shuts the door when he's making coffee. It makes it harder for him to carry the mugs out again. Something shut it behind him."

"You mean..?"

"I think that thing is in there with him." He kicked the door in frustration, shouting Ianto's name again.

Toshiko reached out and touched the wood. It was icy cold. A childish giggle suddenly echoed around the Hub, making the group spin around in shock. Nothing was to be seen, but a sudden whispering seemed to surround them all. Only Jack could understand the frozen words whispered into his ear.

'_Now Jack Harkness...Now your favourite friend is mine forever. Sweet dreams' _


	14. Chapter 14

Hi everyone Hope you all had a good xmas and new year! Apologies again for the slow updates (uni exams are evil!) I have a few days off after tomorrow before term starts again so I'm gonna try and get a few updates in before then. I have an idea where this story is headed, but sometimes the phrasing of the events is really hard to get straight in my mind, which is why it often takes so long for the next part! Keep up with the bugging me and I'll update as often as I can.

Also if anyone has any interesting ideas they think might happen, feel free to leave a comment with them. You never know, I might use them in the fic! Really good side stories/character developments I'm more likely to put in and it would be fun to have some outside input

Hope to hear from you all soon! Enjoy this next part!

- Lerya -

Chapter 14

A shudder ran up Jacks spine as the eerie voice whispered in his ear. Some part of him recognised it, but he had no idea how or where from. He looked around at the others, and from the expressions on their faces they had understood nothing in the whispering that has surrounded them. He looked away quickly as Gwen caught his eye. Turning back to the door, he reached for the door handle once more.

Without a sound, the handle smoothly turned and without looking back Jack pushed it open, one hand going to his side where his pistol sat holstered. A blast of sudden icy air hit the small group, snatching their breath away for a moment. Inside the kitchen was dark, but even so they could still see that every surface and every object was covered in ice. Jack stepped forwards, pulling his gun free and looking around carefully. His free hand slid across the wall, hunting for the light switch. He clicked it a few times, but the room stayed in darkness.

"Ianto?" Jack called into the black, his eyes straining for any sign of movement. No sound returned. It was as if the darkness itself was swallowing the sound. "Ianto can you hear me? Where are you?" Jack called again, taking a further step into the room. It was as if the whole room had turned into one big freezer. The floor was even slightly slippery, but mercifully free from ice.

"Jack" Owen called from just inside the doorway. He turned to see him holding out a torch, a second one already lit in his other hand. Jack nodded his thanks, clicked it on, and turned back. The beam of light penetrated the darkness, dimly reflecting off of the far wall, which glistened slightly from the cold. He quickly swept the torch around the room, checking each of the corners carefully, as well as the counter tops, beneath the table and the entire width of the floor. It was fairly clear that Ianto was no longer in there.

"Ianto!" Jack shouted his name one last time, frustrated, but most of all scared for Ianto. He had no idea where he had been taken, nor what was being done to him. And they still had no idea what was doing this, or why. His slammed his weapon down on the nearest table top to try and vent some of his anger and clear his head so he could think straight. His hand felt something on the corner, something that wasn't ice. With a horrible feeling welling up inside his stomach, he raised his hand to the torch light to be able to see. He felt sick as he saw the red liquid on his fingertips. Quickly he swept the torch over the countertop, but only the corner had the tell tale dark stain covering it. Clearly Ian...someone had fallen here and most likely hit their head on the corner. So where were they now?

Toshiko didn't need to be able to see Jack's fingers to know what he had found. She put her hand to her mouth to stop herself gasping aloud. Stepping back from the group, she moved back into the centre of the hub unnoticed. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heartbeat and her shaking hands. This was going too far now. She could deal with the scaring and the weirdness; that happened pretty much on a daily basis at Torchwood. But stealing one of their team members from right in front of them? And them still with no idea who or what they were dealing with.

'_Poor little Toshiko Sato'_

Tosh felt her limbs turn to ice as that voice reached her. Somehow it seemed to just arrive in her head without going through her ears.

'_Are you afraid little Toshiko Sato? Afraid of what happened to your friend? Afraid it's going to happen to you too?'_

She turned slowly, her hands clenched tightly to try and control the shaking. Panic was rising in her throat, and the moment seemed to last for hours as she finally laid eyes on the figure standing behind her. It was the small boy from before, still in the same dark jeans and red hoody. Only this time his hair, which before had been a sandy brown colour and neatly brushed, was now streaked with black and completely messed up. His eyes were now fully jet black and there was a cold, calculating smile that somehow seemed out of place on a child so young, and yet made the whole thing a lot more terrifying.

"Wh...what do you want from me?" She tried hard to keep the waver of fear from her voice. For some reason she couldn't take her eyes off the child in front of her. She wanted to look to the others, try and call out for help but the child kept her frozen in place.

The horrible cold laugh came again, shattering any last lucid thoughts in her mind.

'_You were fun to play with last time. Your dreams are so sweet, so innocent. So easy to play with. Just like your friend'_

Toshiko forced herself not to look into the boy's eyes, forcing herself instead to look at his hair, his clothes, anywhere else.

"Toshiko?" Owens voice suddenly snapped her out of the trance like state the boy had held her captive in. She took in a deep shuddering breath as she finally managed to turn away and look at the rest of the torchwood team, and to Owen who was making his way towards her. "Tosh, you ok? You look kinda shaky."

"But..." She looked back to where the child had been standing only a moment before, to see nothing but empty space. Owen frowned.

"What is it? What did you see?"

"I...its nothing, really." Tosh found herself replying, suddenly unable to meet his eye and wanting desperately to change the subject and to forget about the eerie meeting that had just taken place.

"Don't give me that, you saw something. Was it that boy again? The one you saw back at your flat?"

She could only not, biting her lip to stop the tears welling up behind her eyes from spilling over. Owen then did something completely out of character for him. He reached out and pulled Toshiko into a hug, holding her gently as if she was made of glass. Still too shocked from seeing the strange child to find this awkward or strange, Tosh leaned into him as the tears finally came.

"What does it want from us? Why is it doing it to us alone? We haven't even seen it before"

"I know I know." Owen pulled away and looked directly into her eyes. "Whatever happens, we're going to find this thing, or these things, whatever they are, and we're going to stop them like we always do. Then we're going to make them put things right, with Rhys, with Ianto, with everyone. We've been through worse than this before Tosh. We can make it through this as well."

Tosh nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The last words of the child were still echoing around her head, and she didn't dare give them another voice. Then it would seem too real. Then it would really be happening.

'_I like your dreams...I think I'm going to take you away next..."_


End file.
